One of the lengthiest parts of making pizza at home is the dough and the base. Buying premade bases is a great way to save time, but you often only need 1 base. So, what is the best way to store any remaining bases?
Can You Freeze Pizza Bases?
Yes, you can freeze pizza bases for up to 4 months. Wrap each individual base in cling film, and then label them with the correct date. If you’re freezing multiple bases, then pop them all into a large freezer bag before popping them in the freezer.
Do Do Pizza Bases freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Pizza Bases? No
How to Freeze Pizza Bases
Freezing pizza bases is really quite simple – theyāre one of the few yeasted doughs that freeze very well. Follow our steps to ensure your pizza bases freeze as well as possible:
- Wrap Each Base: Wrapping each pizza base in cling film individually will ensure that each base remains safe from moisture in your freezer. The cling film should form a water-tight barrier.
- Portion Together: The bases wonāt stand up to refreezing well, so consider how many bases you’ll need at a time and wrap the already-wrapped bases in a final sheet of cling film so they’re in one parcel.
- Bag Up: You can pop all the wrapped packages of pizza bases into one freezer bag. This is mainly to keep them all in one place.
- Freeze: Finally, write a clear label on the outside of the bag with the contents and the date and then carefully pop the bag into the freezer, trying to keep it flat.
3 Tips for Freezing Pizza Bases
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing pizza bases to have the best results:
Be Gentle
Pizza bases are thin and brittle so, when placing them in your freezer, you need to be as careful as possible. You don’t want to go through all the effort of freezing them, only to snap them accidentally. Ā
Don’t Freeze Dusted With Flour
A freezer is a moist environment with a high humidity level. This means that if the pizza bases have been dusted with flour before freezing, the flour will attract that water to the bases. This can lead to a level of degradation on the surface of the pizza bases from freezer burn.
Assemble the Pizzas Before Freezing
If you know in advance what you might like to put onto the pizzas, you can assemble them well in advance to save yourself time before cooking. Then, youād be able to simply transfer the pizza bases from the freezer to the oven, making for a quick, easy dinner.
How Long Can You Freeze Pizza Bases?
You can freeze pizza bases really well for around 3 to 4 months. Beyond that time, freezer burn will likely begin to set in, which would lead to a level of degradation in the dough. The common result of this is a dry, tough base once thawed and baked.
With that said, though, since pizza bases typically contain some level of olive oil or fat, they will freeze really well!
Once opened, pizza bases will only keep for around 2 days in the fridge when well wrapped.
How Do You Defrost Pizza Bases?
The easiest way to defrost pizza bases is to unwrap them totally and then store them at room temperature. The time that this will take depends upon the ambient temperature in your home, though, generally, we would suggest two to three hours.
If youāve pre-assembled the pizza bases, you might be able to put them straight into the oven from the freezer. Remove all of the packaging, and then place them into an oven at 200ĖC until the cheese is melted and browned.
Can You Refreeze Pizza Bases?
Technically, yes, you can refreeze pizza bases.
The reason that you cannot refreeze everything is that some items have a bacterial content that can become contaminated after theyāre out of the freezer. This isnāt the case for pizza bases.
We wouldnāt advise refreezing pizza bases, though, since the humid environment of your freezer can lead to degradation in the quality of the dough, leading to a poor final pizza.
Do Pizza Bases Freeze Well?
Yes, pizza bases do freeze well!
The main reason for this is the presence of olive oil in the dough – which allows for the dough to freeze well without ice crystals spreading through the dough itself.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing pizza bases or pizza in general, then these may help:
Yes, store-bought pizza bases can be frozen for around 4 months. If unopened, you can probably pop the whole base, in its packaging, into the freezer without any prep work.
Gluten-freeze pizza bases can be frozen without any issues. Wrap each gluten-free base in a sheet of cling film, bag up with other bases and then pop into the freezer for 3 to 4 months.
